stealth ingredient – hydrolyzed vegetable protein

HVP. Up until last week those initials had no meaning. When I wrote about the tortilla soup base recall, I looked up what hydrolyzed vegetable protein was and thought — oh dear — lots of food recalls will be coming our way.

According to Natural News, hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP) is one of most common soy-based food fillers used to make literally thousands of processed food products. HVP is found in veggie burgers, gravy mixes, soups, and many other grocery products. And the company doing the recall, is the largest producer of HVP. Salmonella is the problem and many companies are affected. So far Trader Joe’s, McCormick Spices, Safeway, etc.

I just looked at a package of Trader Joe’s meatless meatballs which has textured vegetable protein as an ingredient. I don’t know if that’s the same thing. I will research later but I’ve already eaten most of the bag.

According to Natural News, the words “hydrolyzed” or “autolyzed”are a hidden source of MSG. Ditto for textured vegetable protein or TVP. But the most common source of hidden MSG isyeast extract— an ingredient found in huge numbers of so-called “natural” foods.